Smartphone users are no longer exceptions. Everyone's on mobile. This is true of even developing nations where you see even roadside hawkers sporting a phone, sometimes a smartphone. With smartphone alternatives that are significantly cheaper than the Apples and Samsungs, we can only expect this trend to grow.
In the last decade, it became imperative that you have an online footprint if you are an entrepreneur or even an established business. You had to be searchable and findable on the web. Today, that requirement has graduated to "searchable, findable and readable" on mobile.
Mobile optimization can be done via responsive, adaptive or specific development for the mobile platform.
Whichever route you use, here are a few things that you should know while optimizing your site for mobile.
Make the design consistent: While putting out content on the mobile platform requires paring down some elements, it is important to keep the design scheme consistent. Your logo and colour schemes should be immediately identifiable on any device.
Adopt a minimalist design: It's best to do away with elements that were meant to add a visual flourish to the desktop website, but can end up looking skewed - or even worse, hide other important elements( like contact information or a CTA) on the mobile display. For example, a sidebar on the desktop can aid with conversions, but won't serve the same purpose on a small screen.
Make readability a priority: While it is important to get the layout right, text that is small or hard to read can be a major put off for mobile users. Besides, it helps to remember that most mobile users are browsing your site while travelling or waiting in a doctor's room. In other words, they are browsing while bored- so it's best to keep annoyances to the bare minimum. Also, it increases that "fat-finger syndrome" making it hard for readers to follow through links.
Make CTAs stand out: Because there is only limited screen space on a mobile device, experts recommend that Call-To-Action(CTA) buttons should come out strongly - mostly in bright colours against the background. Also, the CTA message itself should be unambiguous and easy to click through.
Incorporate the Click-To-Call feature: Since the user is holding the phone in his hand, it becomes critical to highlight the "click-to-call" feature. It saves him the effort of looking up your number and then dialing it into his phone; which makes it that much more appealing for him to initiate the conversation.
Don't overlook speed: For the same reason that mobile users re often bored, they are much more likely to leave your site- and worse forget it forever, if it takes ages to load and each element takes turns coming on. Loading speeds need to be optimized for the mobile processor.
Devishobha is the founder of Kidskintha- a website dedicated to helping millennial parents raise happy kids. Grab the most comprehensive list of Productivity Hacks for Millennial Parents- totally FREE.
